St. Petersburg Florida - "The Sunshine City" - Booms and Busts and Booms Again

1875- General John Williams purchased 2,500 acres of real estate on Tampa Bay1888- Peter Demens, a wealthy Russian, purchased the Orange Belt Railway to St. Petersburg, FL. He named the city for his hometown, St. Petersburg, Russia.1914- St. Louis Browns baseball team moved to the St. Petersburg for spring training. Eventually followed by Babe Ruth and the Yankees.1914- Tony Jannus flew his Benoist airplane across Tampa Bay

1920s- Perry Snell, developed a 275-acre real estate subdivision and named it Snell Isle

1924- The Gandy Bridge opened, cutting travel time from St Petersburg to Tampa by half

Late 1920s- Depression, the real estate boom crashed, many homes in Tampa Bay halted construction and the real estate boom over1930s- Economic recovery began with $10 million in new investment in the St Petersburg, its industry and St Petersburg real estate1939- St. Petersburg's City Hall is built1940s- Major growth and the addition of several military outposts established in St. Petersburg1950s- Air conditioning brought a considerable number of senior citizens to the area and made St Petersburg real estate popular among retirees and returning war veterans1960s- The municipal marina, central library and the Museum of Fine Arts are built in Downtown St Petersburg1970s- Developed an innovative reclaimed water system used for irrigation of St Petersburg homes and businesses1980s- What is now known as Tropicana Field is built in Downtown St Petersburg, the future home of the Tampa Bay Rays1990s- Major League Baseball awards a franchise to Saint Petersburg2000s- Baywalk revitalizes the downtown core of St Petersburg, FL bringing amenities and shopping and encouraging a new downtown St Petersburg condo boomNow- downtown projects that include retail shopping, restaurants, and movie theaters. University of South Florida, St. Petersburg a major state university has experienced constant growth in the student population

Saint Petersburg Florida
real estate is a treasure trove of fantastic historic homes. Almost every
architectural genre is represented and the homes in the city range from turn of the century
Victorian to modern and eclectic styles of later years. St Petersburg has been
experiencing an incredible renaissance that began in the downtown core and the
surrounding neighborhoods and spread to many of the other historic neighborhoods
and areas.As the most exclusive areas of St Petersburg real estate started
to revive the others followed. Areas like Old Northeast near downtown was one of
the first to see a revival. Snell Isle followed and the rest, as they say, is
history.